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the water.
    “Oh, my God!” Avery shouted, shooting to her feet. The boat rocked unsteadily with the sudden shift in weight. Knox reached for her hand and tugged, pulling her back down.
    As they watched, a parachute popped free of the dark spot plummeting toward the water. Avery let out a sigh of relief, slumping onto her seat.
    The dangerous descent slowed. Whatever had fallen dropped out of their line of sight, but there was no doubt it had hit the water.
    Knox barely gave her any warning before revving the engine. “Hold on.” He cranked it high and jolted forward, speeding in that direction.
    Gripping the edge of the boat, Avery closed her eyes against the spray of water whipping into her face. The boat bounced on the waves, sending her stomach jolting up and down between her throat and toes, until she felt as if her insides were jumbling together. Adrenaline surged into her already spinning system.
    It didn’t take them long to reach the object, five minutes at the most. But the
Amphitrite
was no longer on the horizon. They were surrounded by nothing but open sea on all sides, which normally wouldn’t bother her.
    Except someone had dropped something into the water and the parachute suggested it was intentional.
    For the first time since everything had started, Avery began to question why they were chasing after whatever it was.
    A huge wooden box came into view. The parachute stretched out across the water like a colorful oil slick. On all sides were inflated tubes keeping the cargo afloat.
    Avery was getting a really bad feeling.
    “Uh...remind me why we raced over here?”
    Knox flashed her one hell of an untamed glance. It had the pulse fluttering in her throat with a mixture of lust and excitement.
    “Because, doc, I’m a SEAL and we don’t run from trouble, we barrel toward it.”
    “Fabulous, but could you do that when I’m not around?”
    His mouth hardened, but he didn’t respond. His focus was entirely on the box in front of him. He slowed the boat, circling the box, stirring up a wake that rocked both it and their boat.
    Knox maneuvered close and then cut the engine, floating the rest of the way until the side of their vessel bumped gently against the roughly hewn wood.
    “It’s probably a drug drop.”
    Avery’s eyes slid closed, her stomach clenching tight. Not the words she’d wanted to hear, but not altogether surprising. “Then we should leave and call the Coast Guard or something.”
    “Coast Guard doesn’t have jurisdiction out here.”
    “Then let’s call whoever does.”
    Knox was shaking his head before she’d even finished the sentence. “By the time they get here this shipment will be long gone.”
    “But they’ll know where to look next time.”
    He ignored her statement. “Do you see that?” He pointed to a tiny object affixed to the side of the box toward the top. “Homing beacon.”
    Beautiful. So whoever was coming to pick up the box had a device to lead them straight there. “So we’re just going to what, wait for them to show up? Knox there are two of us and we’re unarmed.”
    “I know,” he said, his voice tight.
    Jumping in front of the wheel, Knox cranked the engine. He scanned the horizon, even as he began to maneuver away.
    “Hang on. I’m getting us out of here.”
    Avery’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the seat. Her heart pounded so fast she could feel the whoosh of blood as it sped through her veins. She wanted the boat to be going just as fast.
    But before Knox could steer them away, a loud humming sound rolled across the water. Unlike the plane, it didn’t build quietly but went straight from low to roar.
    A black boat streaked across the water, heading straight for them like a bullet.
    “Dammit,” Knox breathed out.
    Avery felt her eyes widen with fear and disbelief. How had her day gone so completely sideways? They were supposed to be playing with sonar, not dealing with drug runners.
    The boat approached quickly. Low